What's everybody's thoughts on bill hillmans training a retriever puppy? Also I've looked online but couldn't find the actual length of the video, or what exactly it entails. I got the summary off his website but wanted to know exactly what pint it gets you to in training.

It gets you to the point you're ready to transition into CC and FF. He even starts it at the end of the video but I didn't start into because I wasn't going to follow his ff and CC methods. Gives you a very excited yet obedient puppy with a good foundation.

I would say get it. Its pretty long if I recall maybe an hour plus. When I first got hillmanns dvd I was working with my first dog I wanted to be really well trained. This time on my part was had some anxiety about milestones and what I should be or shouldn't be doing. The hillmann video provided a nice framework for pacing my work with my pup. None of it is stressful or too serious but you will have a well sorted 6 month or however old pup when you finish the dvd who will be ready to move on to bigger and better things. It also gives you little projects to work on with your pup that will give you a way and reason to get outside with your pup and form a bond and a love of retrieving which is the most important thing. If your planning to go hunt test or field trial route I would combine it with Jackie Mertens Sound begginings which has some nice utilitarian concepts for your pup. Also my dog is a statue on the line and I've never had to battle him now I'm not sure if thats his personality or due to hillmanns methods but one less issue to deal with is a blessing.

Very good video, I used it with mine before sending him off to formal trianing. The video is long but it is broken out into 30 individual lessons, each of which are 5-8 minutes long. Pups dont have a great attention span. Well worth the money.

Without question Bill Hillman knows how to teach. His videos if you have the dog and the trainer is experienced with puppy brains will turn the lights on. His foundations will absolutely turn the puppy into a "Dummy Ho" and a marker. In the end it is the trainer that become the limiting factor. Follow him and in two years you will have the hunting/ field trial partner of a lifetime.

The DVD shows Bill working with Nick for 29 (?) days. The pup is approx 11 - 12 weeks old when he starts and it shows his training progression with the pup in only training 3 days a week for those 29 training days. The training is done at a comfortable pace for the pup and you should end up with a young dog with very solid obedience on sit, stay, here, and retrieving well that is ready to move on to CC and FF.

The DVD shows Bill working with Nick for 29 (?) days. The pup is approx 11 - 12 weeks old when he starts and it shows his training progression with the pup in only training 3 days a week for those 29 training days. The training is done at a comfortable pace for the pup and you should end up with a young dog with very solid obedience on sit, stay, here, and retrieving well that is ready to move on to CC and FF.

Yes, the "days" are actually sessions. So it takes about 3ish months to accomplish it start to finish. I didn't use the collar for fetch like he did towards the end of the DVD because I was going with a conventional FF and CC method. He does offer his fetch DVD etc too.